Managing server power consumption in a data center

ABSTRACT

Methods, system, and computer program products are provided for managing server power consumption in a data center. Embodiments include detecting, by a circuit monitoring interposer, a type of a power circuit that is currently coupled to the circuit monitoring interposer; determining a power capacity of the power circuit based on the type of the power circuit; receiving, by the circuit monitoring interposer, a power consumption server measurement from each server monitoring interposer of a plurality of server monitoring interposers, each power consumption server measurement corresponding to a server of the plurality of servers; determining a total power consumption of the power circuit in dependence upon a total of the power consumption server measurements; and determining whether the total power consumption exceeds the power capacity, and if the total power consumption of the power circuit exceeds the power capacity, instructing one or more servers to reduce their power consumption.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically,methods, apparatus, and products for managing server power consumptionin a data center.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional data centers typically include many servers and all ofthose servers consume power. Because power is a significant expense,managing power is an important consideration for systems administratorsof data centers. Another important consideration for systemsadministrators of data centers is that often current safety regulationspreclude configuring the servers of the data center such that the totalmaximum power consumption may exceed the input circuit power available.Under such safety regulations it is not possible to oversubscribe thecircuit power by configuring a number of servers such that the totalpower consumption may be greater than the power capacity of the circuit.There is therefore an ongoing need for improvement in managing serverpower consumption in a data center.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, system, and computer program products are provided for managingserver power consumption in a data center. Embodiments includedetecting, by a circuit monitoring interposer, a type of a power circuitthat is currently coupled to the circuit monitoring interposer;determining a power capacity of the power circuit based on the type ofthe power circuit; receiving, by the circuit monitoring interposer, apower consumption server measurement from each server monitoringinterposer of a plurality of server monitoring interposers, each powerconsumption server measurement corresponding to a server of theplurality of servers; determining a total power consumption of the powercircuit in dependence upon a total of the power consumption servermeasurements; determining whether the total power consumption exceedsthe power capacity, and if the total power consumption of the powercircuit exceeds the power capacity, instructing one or more servers toreduce their power consumption.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram of a system for managing serverpower consumption in a data center according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an exemplary circuit monitoring interposer useful in managingpower consumption of servers in a data center according to embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an exemplary server monitoring interposer useful in managingthe power consumption of servers in a data center according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method formanaging server power consumption in a data center according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method formanaging server power consumption in a data center according toembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary methods, systems, and products for managing server powerconsumption in a data center in accordance with the present inventionare described with reference to the accompanying drawings, beginningwith FIG. 1. FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram of a system formanaging server power consumption in a data center according toembodiments of the present invention. The system of FIG. 1 includes adata center (100). A data center is a centralized repository, eitherphysical or virtual, for the storage, management, and dissemination ofdata and information typically organized around a particular subject orpertaining to a particular business. A data center may exist within anorganization's facilities or may be maintained as a specializedfacility. Data centers vary in size from buildings of servers to serverrooms to even computer closets.

The data center (100) of FIG. 1 includes a plurality of servers (112)that are connected to an uninterruptible power supply (102) through apower circuit (108). An uninterruptible power supply is a device orsystem that continuously supplies electrical or other types of energy.The power circuit (108) of FIG. 1 may be power distribution unit (PDU),such as an inter-rack power PDU or a raised floor PDU. A powerdistribution unit is a device that distributes electric power. Largeindustrial power distribution units are used for taking high voltage andcurrent and reducing it to more common and useful levels, for examplefrom 240V 30 A single phase to multiple 120V 15 A or 120V 20 A plugs. Apower distribution unit may have features like remote power monitoring,control down to the individual plug level, environmental monitoring, ora webcam USB port.

Each server (112) of FIG. 1 is connected to a server monitoringinterposer (110) that is coupled to a power line of the server (112)which is plugged into the power circuit (108). The server monitoringinterposer (110) of FIG. 1 is a device that provides an electricalcontact between the power circuit (108) and one of the servers (112).Each server monitoring interposer (110) of FIG. 1 is capable ofcalculating a power consumption measurement (114) of a server (112) andproviding the power consumption measurement (114) to the circuitmonitoring interposer (106). The server monitoring interposer (110) ofFIG. 1 may include circuit logic for carrying out the calculation of thepower consumption measurements (114) or the calculations may be carriedout in a software module in RAM within the server monitoring interposer(110).

The circuit monitoring interposer (106) of FIG. 1 is coupled to a powerline of the power circuit (108) that is coupled to the power circuit(104). The circuit monitoring interposer (106) of FIG. 1 is a devicethat provides an electrical contact between the power circuit (108) andthe uninterruptible power supply (102). The circuit monitoringinterposer (106) has installed upon it a power consumption manager (150)for managing the power consumption of the servers (112) in the datacenter (100). The power consumption manager (150) includes computerprogram instructions that are capable of: detecting a type of the powercircuit (108) that is currently coupled to the circuit monitoringinterposer (106); determining a power capacity of the power circuit(108) based on the type of the power circuit (108); receiving a powerconsumption server measurement from each server monitoring interposer(110) of a plurality of server monitoring interposers, each powerconsumption server measurement corresponding to a server (112) of theplurality of servers; determining a total power consumption of the powercircuit (108) in dependence upon a total of the power consumption servermeasurements (114) received from the server monitoring interposers (110)coupled to the power circuit (108); and determining whether the totalpower consumption of the power circuit (108) exceeds the power capacity,and if the total power consumption of the power circuit (108) exceedspower capacity, instructing one or more servers (112) to reduce theirpower consumption. By reducing the power consumption of one or moreservers, the circuit monitoring interposer (106) is able to prevent theservers (112) from exceeding the power capacity of the power circuit(108) and thus prevent power supply problems within the data center(100) and reduce the workload of a system administrator at the datacenter (100).

The power consumption manager (150) of FIG. 1 may also include computerprogram instructions capable of detecting an actual plug receptacle typeof the power circuit (108); selecting a particular server (112) toreduce power consumption in dependence upon the power consumption servermeasurement (114) of the particular server (112); instructing one ormore servers (112) to throttle-down a CPU of the one or more servers(112); instructing one or more servers (112) to shut down a fan withinthe one or more servers (112); or instructing one or more servers (112)to reassign a processor job to another server; instructing one or moreservers (112) to shut down.

In an alternative embodiment, power consumption management of theservers (112) is further controlled at a central management system(114). The central management system (114) of FIG. 1 may be configuredto receive the information that is detected, received, monitored,measured, or determined at either of the circuit monitoring interposer(106) and the server monitoring interposer (110). In such embodiments,the central management system (114) of FIG. 1 instructs the servers(112) to reduce their power consumption. Communication between thecircuit monitoring interposer (106), the server monitoring interposers(110), the servers (112), and the central management system (114) ofFIG. 1 may be facilitated through a local area network (130).

The arrangement of servers and other devices making up the exemplarysystem illustrated in FIG. 1 are for explanation, not for limitation.Data processing systems useful according to various embodiments of thepresent invention may include additional servers, routers, otherdevices, and peer-to-peer architectures, not shown in FIG. 1, as willoccur to those of skill in the art. Networks in such data processingsystems may support many data communications protocols, including forexample TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), IP (Internet Protocol),HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), WAP (Wireless Access Protocol), HDTP(Handheld Device Transport Protocol), and others as will occur to thoseof skill in the art. Various embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented on a variety of hardware platforms in addition to thoseillustrated in FIG. 1.

Managing server power consumption in a data center in accordance withthe present invention is generally implemented with computers, that is,with automated computing machinery. For further explanation, therefore,FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an exemplary circuit monitoring interposer (106) useful inmanaging power consumption of servers (112) in a data center accordingto embodiments of the present invention. The circuit monitoringinterposer (106) of FIG. 2 includes at least one computer processor(156) or ‘CPU’ as well as random access memory (168) (‘RAM’) which isconnected through a high speed memory bus (166) and bus adapter (158) tothe processor (156) and to other components of the circuit monitoringinterposer (106).

Stored in RAM (168) is a power consumption manager (150) that includescomputer program instructions for managing server power consumption in adata center in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Thepower consumption manager (150) includes computer program instructionsthat when executed by the processor (156), cause the circuit monitoringinterposer (106) to detect a type of the power circuit (108) that iscurrently coupled to the circuit monitoring interposer (106); determinea power capacity of the power circuit (108) based on the type of thepower circuit (108); receive a power consumption server measurement fromeach server monitoring interposer (110) of a plurality of servermonitoring interposers, each power consumption server measurementcorresponding to a server (112) of the plurality of servers; determine atotal power consumption of the power circuit (108) in dependence upon atotal of the power consumption server measurements (114) received fromthe server monitoring interposers (110) coupled to the power circuit(108); and determine whether the total power consumption of the powercircuit (108) exceeds the power capacity, and if the total powerconsumption of the power circuit (108) exceeds the power capacity,instructing one or more servers (112) to reduce their power consumption.

Also stored in RAM (168) is an operating system (154). Operating systemsuseful in managing server power consumption in a data center accordingto embodiments of the present invention include UNIX™, Linux™, MicrosoftXP™, AIX™, IBM's i5/OS™, and others as will occur to those of skill inthe art. The operating system (154) and the power consumption manager(150) in the example of FIG. 2 are shown in RAM (168), but manycomponents of such software typically are stored in non-volatile memoryalso, such as, for example, on a disk drive (not shown).

The circuit monitoring interposer (106) of FIG. 2 includes a power linecommunication adapter (180) that is coupled to a plug (182) and a socket(184). The power line communication adapter (180) is coupled to thepower line of the power circuit (108) between the plug (182) and thesocket (184). The power line communication adapter (180) of FIG. 2 isused to send and receive data communication through the power line ofthe power circuit (108) and send and receive the data communication tothe other components of the circuit monitoring interposer (106) over thepower line protocol bus (190). Data communications may includeinformation used for the management of power consumption of the servers,such as an instruction to one or more servers (112) to reduce powerconsumption, a power consumption server measurement, a total powerconsumption, or a power capacity of the power circuit (108). The servermonitoring interposers (110), the central management system (114), andthe servers (112) of FIG. 2 may communicate by a power linecommunication protocol. In power line communication protocols, the powerline is used to transmit data communications from one device to another.

Examples of power line communications protocols useful for managingserver power consumption of a data center according to embodiments ofthe present invention include X10, KNX, INSTEON, BACnet, LonWorks, andHomePlug specifications. The “X-10” means the X-10 protocol. TypicalX-10 enabled devices communicate across AC powerline wiring, such asexisting AC wiring in a home, using an X-10 transmitter and an X-10receiver. The X-10 transmitter and the X-10 receiver use Radio Frequency(RF) signals to exchange digital information. The X-10 transmitter andthe X-10 receiver communicate with short RF bursts which representdigital information.

In the X-10 protocol, data is sent in data strings called frames. Theframe begins with a 4 bit start code designated as “1110.” Following thestart code, the frame identifies a particular domain, such as house,with a 4 bit “house code,” and identifies a device within that domainwith a 4 bit “devices code.” The frame also includes a command string of8 bits identifying a particular preset command such as “on,” “off,”“dim,” “bright,” “status on,” “status off,” and “status request.”

HomePlug” stands for The HomePlug Powerline Alliance. HomePlug is anot-for-profit corporation formed to provide a forum for the creation ofopen specifications for high speed home powerline networking productsand services. The HomePlug specification is designed for delivery ofInternet communications and multimedia to homes through the home poweroutlet using powerline networking standards.

The HomePlug protocol allows HomePlug-enabled devices to communicateacross powerlines using Radio Frequency signals (RF). The HomePlugprotocol uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) to splitthe RF signal into multiple smaller sub-signals that are thentransmitted from one HomPlug enabled-device to another HomePlug-enableddevice at different frequencies across the powerline.

The exemplary circuit monitoring interposer (106) of FIG. 2 includes acommunications adapter (167) for data communications with a network(130). Such data communications may be carried out serially throughRS-232 connections, through external buses such as a Universal SerialBus (‘USB’), through data communications data communications networkssuch as IP data communications networks, and in other ways as will occurto those of skill in the art. Communications adapters implement thehardware level of data communications through which one computer sendsdata communications to another computer, directly or through a datacommunications network. Examples of communications adapters useful formanaging server power consumption in a data center according toembodiments of the present invention include modems for wired dial-upcommunications, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) adapters for wired datacommunications network communications, and 802.11 adapters for wirelessdata communications network communications.

For further explanation, therefore, FIG. 3 sets forth a block diagram ofautomated computing machinery comprising an exemplary server monitoringinterposer (110) useful in managing the power consumption of servers(112) in a data center according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The server monitoring interposer (110) of FIG. 3 includesmany of the components of the circuit monitoring interposer (106) ofFIG. 2. That is, the server monitoring interposer (110) of FIG. 3includes a processor (156), a bus adapter (158), a front side bus (162),a memory bus (166), a power line protocol bus (190), a power linecommunication adapter (180), a communications adapter (167), a plug(182), a socket (184), and expansion bus (160), a RAM (168), a powerconsumption manager (150), and an operation system (154).

Stored in the RAM (168) is a power consumption manager (150) thatincludes computer program instructions for managing server powerconsumption in a data center in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. In addition to the computer program instructionsdiscussed in FIG. 2 as included in the power consumption manager (150),the power consumption manager (150) of FIG. 3 may also includes computerprogram instructions that when executed by the processor (156), causethe server monitoring interposer (110) to: monitor the power line of aserver 112 to determine a power consumption measurement; transmit thepower consumption measurement to the circuit monitoring interposer (106)or the central management system (114); receive an instruction to reducepower consumption at one or more servers (112); transmit an instructionto reduce power consumption at the one or more servers (112). The servermonitoring interposer (110) of FIG. 3 uses the communications adapter(167) to transmit data communications, such as power consumptionmeasurements and instructions to reduce power consumption through thenetwork (130) to the circuit monitoring interposer (106), the centralmanagement system (114), or the servers (112). The server monitoringinterposer (110) of FIG. 3 also uses the power line communicationadapter (180) to transmit the data communications through the power lineof the server (112).

For further explanation, FIG. 4 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method for managing server power consumption in a data centeraccording to embodiments of the present invention. The method of FIG. 4includes detecting (402), by a circuit monitoring interposer (106), atype (420) of a power circuit (108) that is currently coupled to thecircuit monitoring interposer (106). Detecting (402) the type (420) ofthe power circuit (108) may be carried out by use of circuitry withinthe circuit monitoring interposer (106) and the power manager (150). Thetype (420) of the power circuit (108) of FIG. 4 may include a voltagerating, such as a 120 volt type or a 240 volt type.

The method of FIG. 4 includes determining (404) a power capacity (422)of the power circuit (108) based on the type (420) of the power circuit(108). The power capacity (422) may be a predetermined thresholdestablished by a system administrator of the data center (100) of FIG. 1to meet power objectives of the data center (100). In such embodiments,determining (404) a power capacity (422) of the power circuit (108)based on the type (420) of the power circuit (108) may be carried out byretrieving the predetermined threshold from a well known location indata storage.

The method of FIG. 4 includes receiving (406) a power consumption servermeasurement (424) from each server monitoring interposer (110) of aplurality of server monitoring interposers, each power consumptionserver measurement (424) corresponding to a server (112) of theplurality of servers. The power consumption server measurement (424) isa value representing the amount of power that a server (112) isconsuming or is predicted or estimated to consume. The power consumptionserver measurements (424) may be received from the server monitoringinterposers (110) wirelessly or through a power line or a dedicated datacommunication wire.

The method of FIG. 4 includes determining (408) a total (426) powerconsumption (426) of the power circuit (108) in dependence upon a totalof the power consumption server measurements (424) received from theplurality of server monitoring interposers (110) coupled to the powercircuit (108). Determining (408) a total power consumption (426) may becarried out by adding each power consumption server measurement (424)received from each server monitoring interposer (110).

The method of FIG. 4 includes determining (410) whether the total powerconsumption (426) of the power circuit (108) exceeds the power capacity(422). Determining (410) whether the total power consumption (426)exceeds the power capacity (422) may be carried out by comparing thetotal power consumption (426) with the power capacity (422).

If the total power consumption (426) does not exceed the power capacity(422) of the power circuit (108), the method of FIG. 4 continues toreceive (406) power consumption server measurements (424) and determine(408) the total power consumption (426) until the circuit monitoringinterposer (106) determines (410) that the total power consumption (426)exceeds the power capacity (422). If the total power consumption (426)exceeds the power capacity (422), the method of FIG. 4 includesinstructing (412) one or more servers (112) to reduce their powerconsumption. Instructing (412) the one or more servers (112) to reducetheir power consumption may include the circuit monitoring interposer(106) transmitting a message to the one or more servers (112) wirelesslyor through the power lines or a dedicated data communications wire.

For further explanation, FIG. 5 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method for managing server power consumption in a data centeraccording to embodiments of the present invention. The method of FIG. 5,is similar to the method of FIG. 4 in that the method of FIG. 5 includesdetecting (402) the type of the power circuit; determining (404) a powercapacity; receiving (406) power consumption server measurements;determining (408) a total power consumption; determining (410) whetherthe total power consumption exceeds the power capacity and if the totalpower consumption exceeds the power capacity, instructing (412) one ormore servers to reduce their power consumption.

In the method of FIG. 5 detecting (402) the type of the power circuitincludes detecting (502) an actual plug receptacle type of the powercircuit. The circuit monitoring interposer (106) may include circuitrythat determines the actual plug receptacle type of the power circuit(104) or the power manager (150) may use software logic to detect theactual plug receptacle type based on electrical connections andinformation received from the power line communications adapter (180) ofFIG. 2. The power consumption manager (150) may determine that the plugreceptacles of the power circuit are a type that is rated for 30 Amperesin the 100-120V range. For example, the power consumption manager (150)may determine that a plug is a NEMA 5-15 or a NEMA 5-20 plug. Based onthe determination of the current rating, the power consumption manager(150) determines the voltage rating and the type of the power circuit.The power consumption manager (150) may also correlate the type of theplug with a type of the connected power distribution unit.

The example of FIG. 5 also includes a number of alternative ways ofinstructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption. Instructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce theirpower consumption according to the method of FIG. 5 may includeselecting (504) a particular server to reduce power consumption independence upon the power consumption server measurement of theparticular server. Selecting (504) a particular server to reduce powerconsumption in dependence upon the power consumption server measurementof the particular server may be carried out by comparing the powerconsumption server measurement of that particular server to the otherpower consumption server measurements corresponding to the otherservers.

Instructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption according to the method of FIG. 5 may include instructing(506) the one or more servers to shut down. Instructing (506) the one ormore severs to shut down may be carried out by transmitting a message tothe one or more servers through the central management system (114) ofFIG. 1.

Instructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption according to the method of FIG. 5 may include instructing(508) the one or more servers to throttle-down a CPU of the one or moreservers. Throttling-down a CPU may be carried out by reducing the datacommunications bus clock speed of one or more of the selected servers.Data communications bus clock speeds that may be reduced tothrottle-down the selected servers include I/O bus clock speeds, memorybus clock speeds, and so on as will occur to those of skill in the art.The power consumption manager may continue to instruct one or moreservers to throttle-down until the total power consumption of the powercircuit is reduced below the power capacity of the power circuit.

Instructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption according to the method of FIG. 5 may include instructing(510) the one or more servers to shut down a fan within the one or moreservers. Instructing the one or more servers to shut down a fan may becarried out by sending a message to a particular server that isoperating a fan at a speed that is above a particular threshold.

Instructing (412) the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption according to the method of FIG. 5 may include instructing(512) the one or more servers to reassign a processor job to anotherserver. Instructing the one or more servers to reassign a processor jobto another server may be carried out by sending a message to the centralmanagement system (114) of FIG. 1 to re-assign processor jobs betweenthe plurality of servers (112) to enable one or more of the servers toreduce their power consumption.

Alternatively to reassigning a processor job, the power consumptionmanager (150) may examine jobs in a job queue to determine the powerimpact of the job before the job is assigned. Based on the determinationof the power impact of the job, the job may be assigned to a server(112) that can handle the additional power consumption. By assigningjobs based on power consumption determinations, the power consumption ofthe servers (112) may be managed efficiently by the power consumptionmanager (150).

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readablestorage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example,but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer readable storage medium would include thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of thisdocument, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible mediumthat can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described above with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of monitoring power consumption, themethod comprising: detecting, by a circuit monitoring interposer, a typeof a power circuit that is currently coupled to the circuit monitoringinterposer, wherein the circuit monitoring interposer comprises a devicethat provides an electrical contact between the power circuit and apower supply; determining, by the circuit monitoring interposer, a powercapacity of the power circuit based on the type of the power circuit;receiving, by the circuit monitoring interposer, a power consumptionserver measurement from each server monitoring interposer of a pluralityof server monitoring interposers, each power consumption servermeasurement corresponding to a server of the plurality of servers,wherein a server monitoring interposer comprises a device that providesan electrical contact between the power circuit and a server;determining a total power consumption of the power circuit in dependenceupon a total of the power consumption server measurements received fromthe server monitoring interposers coupled to the power circuit; anddetermining whether the total power consumption of the power circuitexceeds the power capacity of the power circuit, and if the total powerconsumption of the power circuit exceeds the power capacity,instructing, by the circuit monitoring interposer, one or more serversto reduce their power consumption.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereindetecting the type of the power circuit includes detecting an actualplug receptacle type of the power circuit.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein instructing the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption includes selecting a particular server to reduce powerconsumption in dependence upon the power consumption server measurementof the particular server.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein instructingthe one or more servers to reduce their power consumption includesinstructing the one or more servers to throttle-down a CPU of the one ormore servers.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein instructing the one ormore servers to reduce their power consumption includes instructing theone or more servers to shut down a fan within the one or more servers.6. The method of claim 1, wherein instructing the one or more servers toreduce their power consumption includes instructing the one or moreservers to reassign a processor job to another server.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein instructing the one or more servers to reduce theirpower consumption includes instructing the one or more servers to shutdown.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction to reduce thepower consumption of the particular sever is transmitted wirelessly tothe server.
 9. A system comprising: a circuit monitoring interposer to:detect, by a circuit monitoring interposer, a type of a power circuitthat is currently coupled to the circuit monitoring interposer, whereinthe circuit monitoring interposer comprises a device that provides anelectrical contact between the power circuit and a power supply;determine, by the circuit monitoring interposer, a power capacity of thepower circuit based on the type of the power circuit; receive, by thecircuit monitoring interposer, a power consumption server measurementfrom each server monitoring interposer of a plurality of servermonitoring interposers, each power consumption server measurementcorresponding to a server of the plurality of servers, wherein a servermonitoring interposer comprises a device that provides an electricalcontact between the power circuit and a server; determine a total powerconsumption of the power circuit in dependence upon a total of the powerconsumption server measurements received from the server monitoringinterposers coupled to the power circuit; and determine whether thetotal power consumption of the power circuit exceeds the power capacityof the power circuit, and if the total power consumption of the powercircuit exceeds the power capacity, instructing, by the circuitmonitoring interposer, one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein instructing the one ormore servers to reduce their power consumption includes selecting aparticular server to reduce power consumption in dependence upon thepower consumption server measurement of the particular server.
 11. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein instructing the one or more servers to reducetheir power consumption includes instructing the one or more servers tothrottle-down a CPU of the one or more servers.
 12. The system of claim9, wherein instructing the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption includes instructing the one or more servers to shut down afan within the one or more server.
 13. The system of claim 9, whereininstructing the one or more servers to reduce their power consumptionincludes instructing the one or more servers to reassign a processor jobto another server.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein instructing theone or more servers to reduce their power consumption includesinstructing the one or more servers to shut down.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the instruction to reduce the power consumption of theparticular sever is transmitted through a wire link coupled to thecircuit monitoring interposer.
 16. A computer program product forsignaling completion of a message transfer from an origin compute nodeto a target compute node, the computer program product disposed upon acomputer readable storage medium, the computer program productcomprising computer program instructions capable of: detecting, by acircuit monitoring interposer, a type of a power circuit that iscurrently coupled to the circuit monitoring interposer, wherein thecircuit monitoring interposer comprises a device that provides anelectrical contact between the power circuit and a power supply;determining, by the circuit monitoring interposer, a power capacity ofthe power circuit based on the type of the power circuit; receiving, bythe circuit monitoring interposer, a power consumption servermeasurement from each server monitoring interposer of a plurality ofserver monitoring interposers, each power consumption server measurementcorresponding to a server of the plurality of servers, wherein a servermonitoring interposer comprises a device that provides an electricalcontact between the power circuit and a server; determining a totalpower consumption of the power circuit in dependence upon a total of thepower consumption server measurements received from the servermonitoring interposers coupled to the power circuit; and determiningwhether the total power consumption of the power circuit exceeds thepower capacity of the power circuit, and if the total power consumptionof the power circuit exceeds the power capacity, instructing, by thecircuit monitoring interposer, one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, whereininstructing the one or more servers to reduce their power consumptionincludes selecting a particular server to reduce power consumption independence upon the power consumption server measurement of theparticular server.
 18. The computer program product of claim 16, whereininstructing the one or more servers to reduce their power consumptionincludes instructing the one or more servers to throttle-down a CPU ofthe one or more servers.
 19. The computer program product of claim 16,wherein instructing the one or more servers to reduce their powerconsumption includes instructing the one or more servers to shut down afan within the one or more server.
 20. The computer program product ofclaim 16, wherein instructing the one or more servers to reduce theirpower consumption includes instructing the one or more servers toreassign a processor job to another server.